Babies: 0 - 3 Months

Help! Baby doesn't like swaddle

I'm looking for any suggestions for a baby who doesn't like to be swaddled but when she sleeps without a swaddle, she wakes herself up with her hands.

 She is 12 days old and we have tried everything - swaddling with a blanket, using a SwaddleMe wrap and using a Woombie. She wakes herself up by fighting to get out. But without a swaddle she's waking herself up with her hands.

 I should add that she sleeps fine during the day unswaddled ....she sleeps in the bassinet thing on top of the Pack n Play during the day. At night, she's in a crib in her own room.

Any advice you can provide would be appreciated. 

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Re: Help! Baby doesn't like swaddle

  • The Miracle Blanket is the only one DD can't break out of... sooo worth the money! She falls asleep within minutes of getting into it.
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  • Not all babies like to be swaddled.  DD#1 would fight her arms out at less than 1 day old in the hospital, so we would wrap her up with her arms out to start with, in a regular blanket.  We stopped swaddling at all in about 2 weeks.  DD#2 naps in a swing during the day, and sleeps great.  I think the movement and being "hugged" by the sides makes it similar to being held.
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  • imageFarmBoysWife:

    This- DS screamed bloody murder day one- hour 3 of life when a midwife swaddled him. It wasn't until DH loosened the blanket that he finally calmed down. DS likes to have his hands loose I just try and make sure he cant flail all over the place. Maybe try a looser swaddle where your lo can move their hands. It works for us because DS likes to sleep with his hands up by his ears (kinda like my current siggy pic)

    This is what I was thinking of doing ... that way she'd still be able to move her arms, but they wouldn't be so free that they'd be going crazy. She also likes to sleep with her arms up (during naps I've noticed this).

    Thanks for all of the quick responses! Some friends of mine suggested  the Rock & Play for night, but I'm thinking at some point she's going to need to sleep in her crib, whether now or later...

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  • DD hates to have her arms confined and flips out when they're swaddled when she's awake.  For a while we waited until she was really hard asleep before swaddling her.  Now she sleeps with her arms unswaddled but we don't put her down until she's really asleep.  We've found it helpful to put a receiving blanket over her when we're holding her and gently hold her hands down while we are trying to get her to sleep.  She doesn't fuss as much when we do this as she does when she's swaddled and it helps get her to sleep without her startling herself awake.

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  • Our LO hated being swaddled.  From the first few weeks he hated having his arms in it so we let his arms out.  Then he figured out some way to get his legs out.  Eventually we just stopped, because every time he was sleeping he got out of it.  We stopped pretty early.  I don't think leaving LO unswaddled is a bad thing.  It's one less habit to have to break later on down the road.
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  • Try the SwaddlePod. It is stretchy enough that a baby can move their arms underneath, but tight enough that their arms can't jerk them awake.
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  • LO hates being swaddled so I do it when he is asleep. I rock him to sleep then swaddle him once he is out. He sleeps better with it than without it. LO scratches and rubs his face and wakes himself up. I stopped swaddling for a while and would get 3 hour stretches but when he is swaddled he sleeps 5 hours in his first stretch of sleep.
  • I swaddle my LO with her hands tucked under the corner thats folded down.  So her hands are up and she can suck on them through the blanket if she wants, and she can move them enough to not feel too confined, but not enough to startle herself awake.  Plus, she can't scratch herself.   It's easy to break out of, though.
    ~*Kimberly*~


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  • This was our baby, we found the true womb swaddle. It swaddles with their arms across their chest (but in a pouch so they cant escape), and it was a miracle. He's outgrown it, and moved to a swaddleme just fine.
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  • Try baby Merlin's magic sleep suit. It's not quite a swaddle, but it'll prevent her from waking herself up. She can still move but more in a slow motion type. They can be a bit pricey, but they also make my LO sleep at least 8 hours a night. It's a miracle suit!
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